hike on mid class, >> and lays the groundwork for further work on both growth and deficit reduction. that's an achievable goal. that can get done in ten days. >> bayne never >> holman: in his appearance earlier, boehner, flanked by majority leader eric cantor, sounded doubtful, but said he's willing to try. >> how we get there, god only knows. all i'm telling you is that eric and i, and our team here are committed to working with our colleagues on both sides of the aisle, both sides of the capitol, and the white house to address that. >> holman: still, as the capitol emptied for the holiday, the clock was ticking down to more than $500 billion in spending cuts and tax hikes kicking in. >> woodruff: and to the analysis of shields and gerson-- syndicated columnist mark shields and "washington post" columnist michael gerson. david brooks is off tonight. gentlemen, good to have you with us. >> good to be with you. >> woodruff: so mark, the fiscal cliff, it's still with us. it's still out there. the president made a last minute statement late this afternoon. where does everything stand?
